Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is among the longest-serving senators in Pennsylvania’s historical past. But his run of electoral success ended final month when he narrowly lost to Republican challenger Dave McCormick.
Now, with simply weeks remaining in his 18-year Senate profession, Casey is reflecting on what went fallacious for him and his celebration in what was probably the most consequential battleground state on the map. Casey was the one Democratic Senate candidate operating in a presidential battleground who misplaced his race, falling to McCormick by roughly 15,200 votes as President-elect Donald Trump constructed a much more substantial victory within the Keystone State than he did in 2016.
Although Democrats had been wrecked up and down the poll in Pennsylvania, Casey doesn’t suppose the celebration wants to tear up its playbook. In reality, he thinks the issue that may assist them probably the most just isn’t having to face Trump on the poll once more.
“I believe he’s about as robust a Republican candidate as they’ve had for president in my lifetime,” mentioned Casey, who has served in statewide workplace for 3 a long time and whose father served as a two-term governor of the state.
In an interview with NBC News, Casey mentioned this 12 months’s marketing campaign, what’s subsequent for him and his celebration, and the highlights of his Senate profession.
This interview has been calmly edited for size and readability.
NBC NEWS: What went fallacious in Pennsylvania this 12 months?
CASEY: Well, I believe we’ll know much more over time, however clearly, when President Trump was operating as robust as he ran, that was going to, and it did, have an effect on the outcomes all throughout the ticket. So that’s definitely one, what I might name a considerable issue.
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Just in our race, I believe the mixed affect of the Trump wave, plus the $150 million spent against me by three super PACs, that had an affect, in addition to the presidential race. It’s tougher for me to investigate that as a result of I simply wasn’t paying as shut consideration to the info there. But clearly, for most likely quite a lot of causes, President Trump had his strongest efficiency ever in Pennsylvania of the three races and bought about 50%.
NBC NEWS: And why do you suppose he did run as robust as he did in Pennsylvania? I imply, you could have served there in elected workplace for a lot of, a few years, and have seen the state undergo a lot of political cycles. What do you suppose this time round made it so fertile for the previous president?
CASEY: Well, I do suppose that the financial system — and principally the driving force of that was inflation, regardless that it had come down considerably, manner down nicely earlier than the election — there was a way amongst people that the financial system was higher below his administration. I don’t suppose that’s correct, however that’s the notion that individuals had, and that if he was capable of obtain that when, he may do it once more. So that drove it.
And I believe there’s no query about the truth that border safety was a serious problem, and we heard about that on a regular basis. But I believe if you happen to needed to boil it down to at least one or two phrases, it’d be “prices” or “price of dwelling.” And that’s why after I was making the argument on greedflation and shrinkflation, confronting the very fact, the truth that enormous multinational firms had been jacking up their costs, folks understood that I used to be preventing for them, and so they understood that that was the truth of their lives, and so they knew that company greed is among the drivers of inflation.
So I believe that’s one of many the reason why our race ended up as shut because it did, as a result of we had been, I used to be, connecting on the financial points, and that definitely made our prospects possibly a little bit higher.
NBC NEWS: I do know you and President Biden have a relationship that dates again a few years. When you have a look at your race and simply how shut it was, do you suppose it will have made a distinction if the president had both gotten out of the race earlier, had stepped apart to permit for a major, or wouldn’t it have been doubtlessly decisive in your course if he had stayed in and campaigned via the election with himself on the prime of the ticket?
CASEY: I assume the brief reply is I don’t know and no person is aware of. It’s simply all hypothesis. But look, I’ve had an important privilege to serve the folks of our state for 28 years … and I used to be additionally lucky to be within the Senate at moments the place laws not solely handed, however laws that I labored on was passing that may form the lives of Americans, not only for years, however for generations.
NBC NEWS: Have you spoken with President Biden because the election? What ideas did he share with you? And then is there something that you just’re actually in search of him to perform earlier than leaving workplace, in addition to is there the rest that you just would love to perform earlier than leaving workplace?
CASEY: Yes, I’ve spoken to [the president] however not at any size the place we had been analyzing the election. And I do suppose that it’ll take longer to completely analyze the election.
But primary, I hope he’ll proceed as he has to get an increasing number of sources to Ukraine, to battle towards a murderous dictator, Vladimir Putin, and to fortify the Ukrainian navy to allow them to proceed to confront that enemy. And by the way in which, an enemy of the United States as nicely. I don’t know what the subsequent administration will do, however I hope they don’t abandon the folks of Ukraine and permit Vladimir Putin to take over a free folks.
Obviously, on the home entrance, something the president and his administration can do to get {dollars} out the door, whether or not it’s infrastructure {dollars} or different {dollars} for Pennsylvania, we’ll proceed to work with them on that.
I’m nonetheless making an attempt to get laws handed too as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act, doubtlessly, nevertheless it’s an uphill climb to make some progress on so-called “outbound investment,” to have the ability to restrict the funding that American firms make in China that might below undermine our nationwide safety, is laws that Sen. Cornyn from Texas and I labored on for years. We bought 91 votes within the Senate a few years in the past. … We wish to really cross it and have it enacted into legislation.
I’m additionally working to lastly get into legislation — I imply, I could not get there — however we’re pushing very onerous to cross laws that may lastly stop corporations from paying subminimum wages to people with disabilities. … I’ve had bipartisan laws within the Senate to get that executed. We’re hoping we are able to full that by the top of the 12 months.
NBC NEWS: I’m positive you’ve seen some people that pay rather a lot consideration to elections have been speculating whether or not Pennsylvania may be going the way in which of Ohio, the place it was as soon as a really aggressive state, Democrats routinely received there, and now they’re primarily locked out, particularly after Sen. Sherrod Brown was defeated final month. Do you see this 12 months’s election as an aberration, a velocity bump amid an extended line of Democratic wins which have occurred [in Pennsylvania] lately? Or are you involved that this may be a harbinger of extra Republican wins to come back?
CASEY: I believe it’s most likely untimely to make an evaluation as as to if we’re going in a single course decidedly or the opposite. But I’ll say there have been elements on this election that received’t be at play, or received’t be related in 2028. And one among them [is] Donald Trump is not going to be a candidate for president. … I believe he’s about as robust a Republican candidate as they’ve had for president in my lifetime.
Nixon received by a landslide in 1972, Reagan had a landslide as nicely, however since these days, since at the very least because the early ’80s, they haven’t had a presidential candidate that ran as strongly in Pennsylvania as he did.
NBC NEWS: I don’t know what number of conversations you’ve had with others within the celebration about easy methods to transfer ahead and what if something wants to alter, however what do you suppose the celebration must adapt or modify to to achieve success sooner or later?
CASEY: Part of it isn’t to rewrite the entire method. Part of it’s to do what I’ve been doing, and plenty of senators have executed, governors have executed, however do extra of it, and that’s to go to each group, as I’ve been doing for years, to speak about not simply native points, however native priorities that you just’re engaged on. And I used to be capable of go to each group within the state, and I may level to particular investments in that county that occurred solely simply within the final 4 years. I didn’t even have to return even additional than 4 years.
So we now have to proceed to do extra of that, to focus, to make the connection for constituents … between the work you’re doing in Washington and the way you ship for them.
I believe we now have to proceed to talk on to this problem of prices. That’s why this debate in 2025 concerning the tax invoice can be necessary, as a result of in some way households are going to lose or win within the tax invoice. There’s not going to be a lot in between. Either working households, middle-class households, will get a big tax break, or a big — possibly even unprecedented — tax reduce will go to huge firms, the billionaires and those that are the wealthiest within the nation, as a result of you’ll be able to’t do each. It’s simply unattainable to do this.
And that may inform America rather a lot about who’s on their aspect, particularly if you happen to’re within the center class or struggling to get to the center class. And I believe it’s going to be critically necessary for Democrats to put out early the stakes of that debate and to inform folks what’s at stake for them and their household, after which battle very onerous to win that battle, so the center class wins and large firms and billionaires lose.
And I believe it’s not one thing the place you’ll be able to attempt to break up it down the center. Because final time Republicans had been in cost, the center class bought screwed, and large corporations and really rich Americans bought a report tax break. And that’s not one thing our nation ought to endure once more.
NBC NEWS: Did you discover while you had been on the path this 12 months, and I do know you targeted on this rather a lot, proper, laying out how the laws in Washington that you just guys had handed was impacting folks’s counties instantly, how the {dollars} had been being spent there. Did that resonate with voters? And had been voters actually conscious of how that laws was affecting them on the native stage?
CASEY: There’s no query that I did, and I’m positive others did. We most likely may have executed extra of it. But it’s tough within the marketing campaign. It’s additionally tough when the funding just isn’t but manifest, which means that the bridge just isn’t but constructed. The water or sewer system that’s being changed or repaired just isn’t but accomplished. When high-speed web is deployed and children in faculties and rural communities and rural faculties start to learn from that, that connection can be made extra simply.
But in some methods, we had been form of up towards a timeframe that didn’t make a few of that work manifest. There’s solely a lot you are able to do to level to what’s going to come as opposed to what’s proper in entrance of individuals, proper already related to their group. So I believe over time that that story will proceed to be advised, and I believe it’s necessary for Democrats to proceed to level to the investments we made.
NBC NEWS: When you concentrate on the adverts that had been in your race and in different folks’s races, I imply, the airwaves had been blanketed with adverts on transgender points in your race. It was on the radio, it was on TV. What form of affect did you suppose that had? And how ought to Democrats converse on these points going ahead?
CASEY: Well, I’m undecided. I actually don’t know. I simply haven’t seen any evaluation of the affect of 1 problem or one advert or a collection of adverts. Maybe over time, we’ll have a greater sense of that.
But I believe, in the long run, most of those races do come right down to fundamental points just like the financial system, and if you happen to’re in a debate the place they consider that change is critical on the financial system, that’s a tough hill to run up. And I believe that was true in most races, regardless that we may level to the kid tax credit score in 2021 as actually possibly the most effective middle-class tax cuts and tax cuts for folks not fairly within the center class, and that put extra {dollars} in folks’s pockets. The assist we offered on little one care helped as nicely.
The help we had been offering on an entire host of fronts for households indicated that we knew that prices had been excessive, we knew that they had been struggling. We had been making an attempt to assist them. And I believe the arguments that I made and different Democrats made on company greed, I believe, broke via.
But I believe generally when the opposite aspect is making a change argument, and so they’re making it on the financial system, change usually prevails.
NBC NEWS: When you’re serious about what the subsequent 4 years are going to appear like below a Trump presidency, what do you see?
CASEY: Well, I’m involved about a lot of main points which might be necessary to households, beginning with what I discussed earlier, the tax invoice. I fear that Republicans with a House majority, Senate majority and a president will do what they did final time in 2017, which is ram via a tax invoice that may profit probably the most rich.
And on the time, President Trump was very clear about that. He advised very rich folks at Mar-a-Lago, “I simply gave you an enormous tax break.” And he did. It was simply an unlimited tax break for people and for firms.
And what that continued and exacerbated was an issue that’s been with us because the Reagan period in 1981. I imply actually since that 12 months when he took workplace during the start of President Biden’s time period, you had massive firms and really rich Americans win each tax battle. The solely tax battle they actually misplaced was once we handed the [American Rescue Plan], the place we mentioned we’re going to take a position rather a lot in a baby tax credit score. And huge firms and really rich Americans are getting nothing, and that’s what ought to occur within the subsequent tax invoice they’ve had.
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And I’m afraid that what the Republicans need in 2025 is to proceed that, in order that middle-class household in Pennsylvania goes to get a pair hundred and the one that’s within the prime 1% will get not simply tens of hundreds however $50,000, $60,000, when the center class is getting within the lots of of {dollars}. That is freeway theft. That is unjust. It results in divisions in our society. It crowds out funding we now have to make in our kids, investments we now have to make in job creation and financial development, and it’s fallacious. And that’s one of many issues I fear about probably the most.
On the worldwide entrance, clearly, I’m very involved about what the subsequent administration would possibly do with regard to Ukraine and pulling help for Ukraine and permitting Vladimir Putin to do just about no matter he needs. That can be a foul day, not only for Ukraine, clearly, however it will be a foul day for our nationwide safety.
NBC NEWS: When you look again in your profession, what accomplishments are you most pleased with? And then what’s subsequent for you?
CASEY: I discussed just a few of those overarching items of laws that I performed a job in passing, a part of a crew that did it, whether or not it was the Affordable Care Act or the American Rescue Plan, the infrastructure invoice, the Inflation Reduction Act, which allowed us to make investments to fight local weather change, but additionally to cap the price of pharmaceuticals and achieve this many different issues.
But I believe in a person sense, laws that I launched myself and labored with a Republican to cross over time, definitely the ABLE Act, which allowed households to save lots of for a incapacity similar to for school in a tax-advantaged manner; the Campus SaVE Act, which pressured schools and universities to do extra to guard ladies on faculty campuses from sexual assault; the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which allowed employees, pregnant ladies on the job, to have extra protections than they’d previous to that.
The investments we made in infrastructure throughout the state and roads and bridges and water techniques and high-speed web and a lot else. The tax credit score for power communities, these former coal communities that now would be the topic of funding due to a tax credit score that I made a part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
In my time within the Senate, I used to be capable of work with three totally different senators, two Republicans, one Democrat, to verify 51 federal judges, most of these being district court docket judges who will serve for all times. In reality, I’m in the midst of a vote proper now that simply began for the final Pennsylvania decide that I’ll play a job in confirming.
In phrases of what’s subsequent, I believe the brief reply is, I don’t know, however I do know I’ve to get a job. But I hope I can mix each a job that gives earnings — as a result of I don’t have a belief fund, I would like earnings — but additionally permits me to proceed to work on points that relate to youngsters, points that relate to seniors, folks with disabilities, probably the most susceptible. So I’m in search of these alternatives, and we’ll see what occurs.
